4.3 Preview: Chromatic Dragon Pet and Loot Rule Changes

We wanted to post a few models up that Alayton found for us--mostly the Chromatic Dragon pet, which I am betting is the reward for the guild legendary for tier 13, since there already was a Deathwing pet a while ago. There are also the Lunar New Year rewards we speculated one as well as the Scarab pet from the next TCG edition (not archaeology as we had hoped).

As for the Fel Hippogryph, he's actually from the TCG (thanks to reader Nathanyel for the tip).

New Loot Rules in 4.3

In response to concerns regarding how loot will be distributed in the Raid Finder system, we are making some changes to how loot rolls will work when using the Need Before Greed system in the Raid Finder. When using Raid Finder for the Dragon Soul raid instance, players whose currently assigned class role (Tank, Healer or Damage) matches the class role that a piece of armor or a weapon is flagged for will receive +100 to their Need roll. For purposes of this check, your currently assigned role is defined as the class role you have assigned when a boss is defeated. Sound confusing? I hope not, but here’s how it’ll work:

A boss dies and drops EPIC TANKING ITEM.

A mage in the group yawns and clicks the ‘Greed’ button, getting a 98.

A Fury warrior in the group wants to take up tanking, so he rolls ‘Need’ and gets a solid 64.

Both tanks want the item. Tank 1 rolls a 12, and Tank 2 rolls a 7.

So what happens?

Because the mage rolled greed, she’s right out from the start. The Fury warrior’s Need roll was higher than the tanks’, but he was in the Damage Dealer role when the boss died, and the item is flagged for tanking, so his 64 is still just a 64 out of a possible 100. In contrast, Tank 1 and Tank 2 each get a 100 point bonus to their rolls because they were in the Tanking role when the boss died and they’re rolling on an item that has been flagged for the tanking role. That means that Tank 1 rolled a 112 out of 200, and tank 2 rolled a 107 out of 200. Tank 1 wins the item! If a roll got a bonus, that bonus will be clearly displayed in the chat log.

Please keep in mind that, at least for now, this system will only look at class role, and not player spec. This bonus isn’t only for tanking items either — it applies to Tanking, Damage Dealing and Healing items, and some items are flagged for more than one class role too. Starting out, only Dragon Soul raid items will be flagged for class roles in this way (though all of the items in the raid will be flagged for one or more roles). As you might expect, all the normal Need Before Greed rules are still in place, so that means that these roll bonuses won’t overrule normal class and usability restrictions. Item tooltips in the raid won’t reflect which class roles will get rolling bonuses, but it should be fairly obvious based on stat allocations and item type.

We are considering expanding this system to apply to the new 4.3 dungeons as well, though it is unlikely that we’ll see the system apply to older dungeons or raids for now. Also, please keep in mind that this system is newly minted, and it may see further changes before it’s released with the Raid Finder in patch 4.3.

Comments

Comment by Mantrhax

what will happens if a tank gear drop and the tank dude rolls for that piece getting +100 on it, but he already got that gear earlier ? theres a lot of retard guys playing.

Comment by kaytie

on 2011-10-08T07:36:18-05:00

Same as right now: you kick the moron and blacklist him. They can't solve every single issue in the game with one small change.

Comment by TomatoSauce

on 2011-10-08T08:00:25-05:00

Wrathion needs to take off his turban. I want to know what's under that!

Comment by OverZealous

on 2011-10-08T08:07:57-05:00

I really like that Chromatic Pet, actually - I think it looks... cute(?), or something. Totally diggin' the color, too.

And re; the changes to the looting rules: It's really amusing how druids are already making themselves look bad. You tank in DPS-leather, something Blizzard knows very well - why would you miss out on the bonus? Blizzard did not officially hate Druids last I checked.

Also, Wrathion \\o/

Wrathion needs to take off his turban. I want to know what's under that!

I'd bet it's horns.

Comment by Linkno1

on 2011-10-08T09:58:05-05:00

Glad to hear about the new loot system.

They should really put it into the rest of the game though, for so long I waited for the tank shoulders to drop in Grim Batol and a Pally DPS needed it and won apparently so "his mage friend can start tanking"...They never dropped for me again...

It seems like too much of a good idea to just have it in the LFR tool only.

Comment by Ashelia

on 2011-10-08T10:01:50-05:00

Glad to hear about the new loot system.

They should really put it into the rest of the game though, for so long I waited for the tank shoulders to drop in Grim Batol and a Pally DPS needed it and won apparently so "his mage friend can start tanking"...They never dropped for me again...

It seems like too much of a good idea to just have it in the LFR tool only.

I see the reasons for it being in LFR--that's sort of going to be the new LFD, because fewer people will actually be doing heroics when they can do a raid for gear. Your LFD will mostly be VP people or, sometimes, ilevel people. I mean, I'm thinking, pretty much any LFD piece of gear has a huge upgrade in a raid environment (in particular the blue heroics and the ZA/ZG) so you shouldn't be needing those items--or too bent out of shape if you do need them.

Plus, for heroics, sometimes people do try to gear up their offspec more than they would at a raid. If I wanted to switch to tanking and I was a healer, for example, it might be nice to say "I'm here for TANK rolls, sorry" vs. be an undergeared tank.

Comment by iijohnkeatingii

on 2011-10-08T10:20:20-05:00

that is my guess as well

Comment by Theodicus

on 2011-10-08T11:08:00-05:00

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG TIME AGO!

If this would have been implemented a while back; perhaps most of us would have ALL the gear we needed or ran the raid/dungeon for in the first place. I can't tell you how many (100s) times I have ran raids/dungeons (AS A TANK) for specific items only to have a non-class roll NEED on the item and win the item. And they probably weren't even going to use it.

As well ALL ITEMS NEED TO BE FIXED so that armor classes that can't use/wear the item CANNOT NEED on that item. I am sick and tired of clothies clicking need on PLATE armor or SHIELDS when I am on my tank and plate wearers shouldn't be clicking need on cloth armor ever!

Comment by Rainemard

on 2011-10-08T11:08:08-05:00

Wrathion needs to take off his turban. I want to know what's under that!

Voldemort, obviously.

Comment by OverZealous

on 2011-10-08T11:10:32-05:00

Wrathion needs to take off his turban. I want to know what's under that!

Voldemort, obviously.

Might be that, as well.

Comment by Studhole

on 2011-10-08T14:34:32-05:00

<3

But how will we determine if a Healer hat is really for a healer? If it gives spirit?

A DPS item? Gives Haste/No spirit?

Comment by Yzzami

on 2011-10-08T14:39:52-05:00

The "Fel Hippogryph" would be , from the "Crown of Heaven" TCG edition.

Damnit. Nooooooo.

(*!@#ing tcg)

I feel ya

Comment by TimeTrap

on 2011-10-08T15:30:12-05:00

That doesn't look chromatic at all...

Comment by Kibagami

on 2011-10-08T16:17:05-05:00

what will happens if a tank gear drop and the tank dude rolls for that piece getting +100 on it, but he already got that gear earlier ? theres a lot of retard guys playing.

They just need to make all items in the new raid unique! problem solve :)

They are already doing that with trinklets and rings in Fireland and it work well so far.

Comment by Pyratewench

on 2011-10-08T18:39:50-05:00

I'd like to see the new loot rules integrated to all content..or for pete's sakes...how about just FIXING the current broken need system....just today I ran a low level dungeon where a warlock needed on a shield that the tank actually really needed. Thank RNG the tank won it. Realized shortly after the warlock was mainly auto following the tank (he had a fun time falling off the platforms in deadmines till he figured out to not /f anymore) and pretty much needing on everything he could...while he was wearing only starter white items...and pulled a whopping 6% of total damage. Flippin ninjas. sigh.

Comment by beauxaj

on 2011-10-08T20:11:19-05:00

This sounds great on paper. Wonder if they can penalize rolls for those who need on things they can't even use.

Comment by Azrile

on 2011-10-08T20:25:28-05:00

Glad to hear about the new loot system.

They should really put it into the rest of the game though, for so long I waited for the tank shoulders to drop in Grim Batol and a Pally DPS needed it and won apparently so "his mage friend can start tanking"...They never dropped for me again...

It seems like too much of a good idea to just have it in the LFR tool only.

I see the reasons for it being in LFR--that's sort of going to be the new LFD, because fewer people will actually be doing heroics when they can do a raid for gear. Your LFD will mostly be VP people or, sometimes, ilevel people. I mean, I'm thinking, pretty much any LFD piece of gear has a huge upgrade in a raid environment (in particular the blue heroics and the ZA/ZG) so you shouldn't be needing those items--or too bent out of shape if you do need them.

Plus, for heroics, sometimes people do try to gear up their offspec more than they would at a raid. If I wanted to switch to tanking and I was a healer, for example, it might be nice to say "I'm here for TANK rolls, sorry" vs. be an undergeared tank.

haha, spoken like a true raider. You are right.. everyone will be raiding because the gear is better....... it is always about the gear.. nothing about the fact that LFDs can be done in 20-30 mins... have FAR less drama than dealing with 24 other people.. no... those things don´t matter at all. ... everyone will raid because the gear is better.

LFR is going to be a nightmare unless the fights are extremely uncomplicated. Do you remember how many weeks, or even months it took for people to understand the basics of the orginal cata dungeons? And unless each ´wing´ can be done in less than an hour, it will never replace LFD.

I know as a raider, it is hard for you to understand other players... but there are reasons that even ´omg great gear´ prevent us from wanting to raid every week. Trust me, there are going to be a LOT of players who will get frustrated if every time they get into a raid, there will be 5+ people who will have to have every pull explained to them. Some of us have limited playtime, and having 5 mins of it wasted before every pull will be enough for us to áccept crappy LFD gear´.. In a raid guild, you are expected to do some research ahead of time... you also are expected to block 2+ hours every time you enter the raid.... those two things are very very different than players that will be joining the LFR tool.

Comment by Bloodmercy

on 2011-10-09T00:57:24-05:00

Well, Feral druid tanks are officially screwed on loot now.

we tank in DPS leather.

therefore, we miss out on the +100 bonus to our rolls.

a rogue rolls a 1, a druid tank rolls a 100.

Rogue still wins.

this new system is going to be TERRIBLE for Druid tanks.

^ This times 1000. They should've mentioned something about it in their blue post.I'm also worried about spirit necks, rings, cloaks and trinkets and whether ele-shammys, boomkin, and S-priests will be screwed on those.

Edit: Sorry I didnt read past the first page when I posted yet ANOTHER response to it being sad.

Comment by Bloodmercy

on 2011-10-09T01:25:32-05:00

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG TIME AGO!

If this would have been implemented a while back; perhaps most of us would have ALL the gear we needed or ran the raid/dungeon for in the first place. I can't tell you how many (100s) times I have ran raids/dungeons (AS A TANK) for specific items only to have a non-class roll NEED on the item and win the item. And they probably weren't even going to use it.

As well ALL ITEMS NEED TO BE FIXED so that armor classes that can't use/wear the item CANNOT NEED on that item. I am sick and tired of clothies clicking need on PLATE armor or SHIELDS when I am on my tank and plate wearers shouldn't be clicking need on cloth armor ever!

I'd like to see the new loot rules integrated to all content..or for pete's sakes...how about just FIXING the current broken need system....just today I ran a low level dungeon where a warlock needed on a shield that the tank actually really needed. Thank RNG the tank won it. Realized shortly after the warlock was mainly auto following the tank (he had a fun time falling off the platforms in deadmines till he figured out to not /f anymore) and pretty much needing on everything he could...while he was wearing only starter white items...and pulled a whopping 6% of total damage. Flippin ninjas. sigh.

Blizzard really does need to address certain role/class availability for the need button before the BC dungeons. I'd say part of the reason is the armor specialization is only at lvl 50. 10 levels after plate becomes available and hunters/shamans get to have their plate.(I have seen a boomkin in a ZA ask me for the cloth headpiece we both rolled greed on because he was stupidly wearing cloth gear. Why a max level toon isn't taking advantage of the 5% buff to stat is beyond me.)

Comment by kaytie

on 2011-10-09T05:05:10-05:00

They can't really do anything to pre-TBC content, because it wasn't designed with certain specs in mind, so more often than not a Pala healer will have to wear cloth, or a DPS Warrior wear leather, or what have you. For them to implement the rolling restrictions, they'd have to address the lack of quite a lot of gear over the first 60 levels, and really, for the amount of time people spend in those levels, it's not worth it.

I do like the idea of rolling this new system out to all the upper level content, but it makes sense that they need to test it out and get live feedback first. Plus, there is the issue of it mattering more at 'end game' level than in preceding tiers: in a heroic, you need to take anything that's an upgrade so that you can start raiding, and that includes Spirit on a Mage or Strength for a Feral; in a raid, you're either fine-tuning your gear, and so don't need to take 'filler' stuff, or there for specific stuff that won't be replaced any time soon. Someone who still has greenies that haven't been replaced since level 81 won't get into a raid, and possibly won't even get into the LFR, but they can get into LFD, and so may very well genuinely Need that 'not-theirs' item. That's not really possible once you get to raid level. Plus, as someone else mentioned, there's the gearing up off-specs issue, although that is a bone of contention as people have different opinions on whether that should be allowed or not, so I won't go into that any more than it has been already.

Essentially, I'd say it's perfect that this is only for the LFR stuff, with the potential that it'll be introduced to any 'new' content as it becomes top level, incorporating any tweaks that come about as a result of feedback. Remember, they do change stuff based on what players say, even see the binding of BoE items on a Need roll for a pretty recent example. They're nowhere near egotistical enough to think that this is 100% perfect as is before it's even gone live, so let them let us test it before we cry for mass implementation.